Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome this opportunity to speak on and oppose this matter of public importance. I wonder how Hansard will record the sound of the slowly and sadly deflating balloon that we heard earlier when the Leader of the Opposition got up to speak. It is a reflection of the sadness and futility of the opposition, which is clearly being felt by those opposite, that even the subject matter they choose for MPIs seems somewhat tepid and uninspired. Of course, it should not surprise us that this opposition, which is in opposition because it had so few plans for government, should now be running out of ideas and things to say when we are only about 100 days into this parliament. We should thank our lucky stars that this parliament is not sitting tomorrow or next week because by then the opposition would probably be left nominating topics that they find in gossip magazines or in the leftover newspapers in the staff cafe!

Yet I do think it is appropriate that we remind ourselves every month or so about the utter dysfunction and chaos that was in full swing five years ago when Labor was last in office—by that stage, incidentally, in a coalition government with the Greens. It is said that history repeats itself, and never has that been more true than in the minds of the opposition. So shell-shocked are they from the six years of dysfunction, bitter divisions and policy paralysis that characterised their years in government they are still focused on it today. Not only did we have the farce of the revolving door of leadership in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd days, but we had that litany of policy failures—pink batts, the rorted school halls program and six years of record debt and deficits.

By comparison, this government has a long list of achievements. I am only a relatively new member in this place, but in the 15 sitting days that I have sat in this parliament since I was elected we have given tax cuts to middle-income earners; we have tightened our counterterrorism laws; we have signed a new free trade agreement with Singapore; we have fixed large and growing rorts in so many of the flawed schemes that previous Labor governments implemented, including VET FEE-HELP and child care; we have successfully protected those vulnerable volunteers around Australia in organisations like the CFA from the institutional predation of the union movement; we have just passed in this House the ABCC bill and the registered organisations bill, which will help to restore the rule of law in such a big and critical sector of our economy—and they will do more than those opposite ever did before to address housing affordability in our inner city areas.

But, possibly most importantly of all, in the interests of stability, certainty and economic confidence, this government has achieved something incredibly important yet quite simple: this government has become the first government in Australia in over 12 years to be re-elected in its own right. You cannot understate the damage that all of that instability and dysfunction of those terrible Labor-Greens-Labor years of government did to the economy, which we are now working so hard to undo. What I have seen and experienced so far in my short number of days in this House is a government that has won every substantive vote in this House—not just by one vote but usually by two to 12, depending on how the crossbench votes.

I would also like to say something about the meaningless and silly stunts attempted by those in opposition since the election. I did not get very involved in student union politics when I was at university, but I think I recognise student union politics when I see it. I do not know how Hansard will record the sound of that slowly and sadly deflating balloon that we are hearing over there as they recognise the impotence of being in opposition. It is sad; it is futile—and it mocks their claims to be a constructive partner in government.

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